Methods of the above mentioned general type, using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) for coating the inner wall surfaces of hollow bodies, and particularly for coating hollow bodies having small dimensions with thin coating layers, are generally known in the art. For example, German Patent Publication 43 39 490 discloses a method and an apparatus for carrying out the coating of interior walls of hollow bodies having small dimensions, e.g. less than 10 mm, whereby the coating is carried out by means of PLD, and whereby uniform coating layers with defined adjustable or selectable layer thicknesses can be deposited over the entire surface to be coated.
Furthermore, German Patent Publication 44 17 114 discloses a method and an apparatus for achieving a particle selective deposition of thin coating layers by means of PLD, whereby the number of droplets and target particles in thin layers can be reduced by an order of magnitude. This is achieved according to the known method in that a laser pulse generates a laser plasma on a surface of a target material, whereupon this laser plasma is directed into a partial chamber space lying above the substrate surface, and a process gas is introduced into this partial chamber space, in order to develop a high frequency electrical field in this space.
Until the present time, the problems associated with coating the inner walls of hollow bodies with well-adhering, chemically and physically homogeneous functional layers have only been solved somewhat satisfactorily in a few special cases or applications. It is especially noted that considerable problems still arise in connection with the application of one or more coating layers onto the inner walls of hollow bodies having small inner diameters, and in connection with the deposition of composites or alternating layers on such substrates of glass and ceramic materials, and further in connection with the synthesis of ceramic and metal/ceramic layers having a defined grain structure with a prescribed physical structure on the interior walls of any desired materials.